THE BC. LUMBER WORKER ly Bulletin Published by DISTRICT COUNCIL ‘Woodworkers of America Managing Editor NIGEL MORGAN 604, Holden Bldg., Vancouver, B.C. Phone, PAcific 9727 Payments to: “LW.A., B.C. D.C.” DITORIAL (Continued from Page 1) gather vast new fortunes. Since the war "started, 26 new millionaires have been ‘ereated in Canada, These people are not patriots, Their only allegiance is to their cash register and bank accounts. And yet, our Government has not only allowed _ them free rein to gather in profits, but has placed the most reactionary, out- spoken representatives of the monopolies and trusts onto leading government com- ‘mittees from which war orders and con- tracts are being let. On May Day the working people must "iunitedly raise their voices to demand that our standards of living be increased and that profiteering be ended, Place 100 per cent tax on the pro- _ fits of the rich! Wages must go up— profits down! End profiteering on - foodstuffs, 4 HANDS OFF LABOR’S RIGHTS! The rights of labor are being under- mined and attacked, The profiteers, in their scramble for riches, are seeking to prevent the unorganized workers from prganizing into trade unions. In addi- tion, these same profiteers have extended | their influence into high circles and the | result has been a number of Orders-in- Council which seriously threaten organ- ized labor and its struggle for higher ‘wages. The most notorious of these, P.C, 7440, which pegs wages to the level of 1926-29, and denies wage increases, has already been roundly condemned by both the Vancouver Trades and Labor Coun- ell (AJXL,) and the Vancouver Labor Council (C.C.L,), On May Day organized labor must unite to voice its demand for the right to organize, bargain collectively, strike and picket, Throw P.0. 7440 overboard ! Peg pro- fits—not wages! Penalize the employ- | ers who refuse to recognize the rights of employees ! RESTORE THE CIVIL LIBERTIES OF THE PEOPLE ! Since the outbreak of war the people ) | Local 1-118 IWA Meeting held Second Sunday of every month at 10:30 a.m. Room 23 — 1116 Broad St. PALACE CAFE 47 WEST CORDOVA STREET 938 GRANVILLE ST. A Satisfied Customer is Our Best Advertisement 100% UNION HOUSE ‘Lake Cowichan Union Hall Saturday, April 19th 8:30 p.m, uments Admission 35¢ In Aid of Hospital Fund. Women’s Auxiliary Local 30, TW.A. See ee eee eee eres . G. MANSON, D.C. CHIROPRACTOR PALMER GRADUATE latest technique in X-Ray “Service used in this Office “Dominion Bank Building 4 (Opposite Cenotaph) s maneeenseneseneee’ sae aesessesen! Victoria Miilworkers! |! have observed many alarming develop- ments. The civil liberties of the people —freedom of press, of speech and as- sembly—have been almost completely obliterated by the arbitrary powers estab- lished under the Defence of Canada Reg- ulations. These Regulations in one stroke destroy all of the sacred rights won by the people through decades of struggle. ‘The labor movement has been the first to suffer. Strike pickets have been ar rested while peacefully carrying out their duty. Scores of labor leaders have dis- appeared only to have their relatives and friends find out later that they have been interned by the R.CM.P. These people were never given a trial or public hearing, and in most cases, charges have never been laid against them. Labor can- not afford to permit this situation to con- tinue without protest, On May Day every progressive person must join in reaffirming his demand that the fundamental democratic rights of the people be respected and that an open trial be granted to all labor leaders at present interned, Join in making May Day the Great- est Demonstration of Unity and Soli- darity of the Working People ! Alliison’s Camp Organized labor everywhere has always been apprehensive of government by de- cree and when this undemocratic policy was adopted by the King Government labor's fears were increased. In the case of Order-in-Council P.C. 2685, which mildly sets forth labor's democratic rights, it strenuously insisted, at least verbally, that the right of collective bar- gaining and the choice of organization should remain unabridged. But the main concern of the employers in the woodworking industry is to in- crease their profits through handsome Bovernment war orders paid for out of the taxpayers’ pockets and they are not concerned with the legal rights of their employees as can be seen in the case of the Allison Logging Co., reported else- where in this edition, who have adopted a Hitler-like attitude of refusing their employees the right to meet their elected union officials. The attitude of the Alli- son Logging Co, management is typical of the lumber barons in British Columbia. While basking in super profits procured through government war orders, they ‘pursue a “concentration camp” policy likened only to that of Germany and Italy. What is the most outstanding thing in the whole situation is that in spite of representation by labor our govern- ment continues to countenance it while informing the workers at large they have @ legal right to organize and bargain collectively in connection with wages, hours and working conditions as the best means of maintaining and extending un- interrupted production and sound labor relations highly essential to law, order and good business, presumably ‘as set forth by the government when it passed Order-in-Council 2685. This unscrupulous, open shop policy as exemplified by Allison constitutes a challenge that cannot be ignored; a chal- lenge not only to the International Wood- workers of America as to whether we are going to be permitted to carry on a con- structive trade union policy in the inter- ests of our membership and the general public but it constitutes a challenge to our government as to whether or not they are going to permit the introduction of fascism by slow degrees into this Can- ada of ours or whether the workers’ rights sholl be extended and maintained as set forth in the 10 points embodied in PC, 2685. The workers in the camps must de- mand and fight for their democratic right to see their elected officials. It is up to the workers right in this camp, who will be supported by the better or- ganized crews in the other Q.C.I. camps, to see that this provocative action of the Company is stopped here and now—that | their organization, the I.W.A., is there to stay because it answers the needs of the workers in obtaining higher wages and improved working conditions. Unless this is done and done immediately, a forward step will be impossible and loss of last year’s gains will be inevitable, Organize now for the right to meet and bargain ag fo your living standards. Page Five ALLISON LOG (Continued from Page One) admission to the camp. Upon receiving a wire to this effect our representatives in Vancouver saw Manager A. P. Allison yesterday and received a flat refusal on his part to permit the business agent access to the bunkhouses to see the mem- bership. We wish to make it clear that in the past our representatives have gone to the bunkhouses but only after working hours. On no occasion has -any stoppage of work or delay on the job been caused through his activities. Furthermore, the bunkhouses, while on property leased by the company, are nevertheless rented by the men who pay for their board and lodgings, and they should be entitled to receive visits from anyone they want to see without inter- ference from the company. “We called Mr. Allison’s attention to P.C. 2685 and particularly to Clauses 6 and 7. He merely ignored these clauses as being a pious declaration of the gov- ernment which meant nothing. “Later, our representative saw Mr, Cur- rie of the Federal Labor Department here. We explained the situation to him and asked him to write Mr. Allison calling his attention to P.C. 2685. Mr. Currie declined to commit himself on the question of writing such a letter and we therefore presume he will not do so. Towards the end of the interview he stressed the fact that the government would use all legislation at its disposal in order to keep the Allison Camp go- ing, since he claimed this operation and others on the Queen Charlottes are vital to national defence work, It would not be hard to interpret this statement as a threat against our union and against its duly elected officers because to date a number of trade unionists have been interned without trial and for no ap- parent reason. “What we particularly want to stress and what we are demanding is that we be guaranteed the rights set forth in P.C. 2685, which as recently as Decem- ber 19th last, was confirmed by the gov- ernment when it passed P.C. 7440. We want to know if the Department of Labor at Ottawa intends to dispose of P.C, 2685, as does Mr. Allison of the company and Mr. Currie of your de- partment, as merely a ‘kind’ declaration of ‘principle’ with no meaning or intent behind it. A majority of the men on the Queen Charlottes are members of our union and we feel they definitely should have the right to see their busi- ness agent and to transact the usual lawful business with him, We expect the Department of Labor to protect the men in exercising this right, “Tt is not the intention of the TWA to create any industrial strife, but in the past loggers faced similar problems and have refused to continue as employ- ees of the particular camp involved. Certainly this organization would regret a recurrence of such action at this par- ticular time in view of the extreme shortage of experienced woodsmen, but, however, the future action of the men and the IWA will be determined by the actions of your department in assisting us in reaching a peaceful settlement of this basic demand. “Yours truly, (Signed) “Nigel Morgan, “Sec. IWA, B.C. Dist. Council.” An end to millionaires’ profits and luxuries! .. . A decent life for labor! eae | LABOR AND THE LAW B: ATTORNEY JOHN STANTON As we saw in the last column, in order to understand P.C. 7440, the order-in- council which pegs wages, we must first understand an earlier order passed on June 20, 1940, namely, P.C, 2685, which contains a ten-point statement of gov- ernment policy “for the avoidance of labor unrest during the war.” P.C. 2685 starts out with a preamble stressing the importance of maintaining good relations between employers and employees during the war time and stat- ing that although there had not been much industrial unrest up to the date of the order-in-council, the war might well accentuate such unrest. Not only wages and hours but the right to or- ganize and to bargain collectively are declared by the preamble to be likely sources of dispute between employers and employees. It is in order to remove misunderstand- ings and to extend “common interests and national purpose” that the govern- ment then proceeds to lay down its ten- point labor policy, These ten points can be more conveni- ently considered. under five headings: P.C. 2685 states that every effort should be made to speed war industry produc- tion but that since experience in the last war has shown that an “undue” length- ening of working hours results in exces- sive fatigue and so in smaller output, the hours of work “should not be un- duly extended.” P.C. 2685 further pro- vides that when established labor con- ditions are suspended as a result of the need of speeding up war time produc- tion, such suspension “should be brought about by mutual agreement.” P.C, 2685 provides that fair wage stan- dards and working conditions “should be recognized” but it also states that when, due to war time conditions, ad- justments in pay have to be made “they might well be in the form of bonus pay- ments.” This provision contains within it the seed of P.C. 7440 which was passed six months later and which, as we will see in due course, pegs wages at a certain level. 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